Lock for door-knobs.



No. 868,925. PATENTED 001-22. 1907.

E. A-. HINE.

LOGK FOR DOOR KNOBS. APPLIOATION nun IA! 2. 1901.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. I-IINE, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

LOCK FOR DOOR-KNOBS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22, 1907.

Application filed May 3, 1907. $eria1No. 371,730.

To all whom it only concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. I'IINE, a citizen of the United States,residing at 209 Washington avenue, 1

Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented c rtainnew and useful Improvements in Locks for Dooelinobs, lully described andrepresented in the following specification and the accompanyingdrawing-i, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to prevent the theft of metallicdoorknobs, which have often been stolen to be sold as junk metal,because they can be detached by merely removing the knol.)-scrcw whichholds the knob on the spindle.

The improvem nt consists of a latch or pawl jointed upon the spindle ina suitable position to engage a shoulder within the knobshank or knob,in addition to the ordinary or usual fastening for the knob.

Where only one side of the door is exposed, as in locked vestibuledoors, the inner end of the spindle may have the knob secured by aknob-screw, and the outer knob secured by the pawl, so that from theouter end oi the spindle the knob cannot be removed.

Where both sides of the door are exposed, the two knobs can be protectedfrom theft by forming the rosc" upon one side of the door deep enough tocover the knob-screw and securing one knob by such screw, the other knobbeing secured by the pawl, as already described.

By pivoting the pawl in a slot in the knob-spindle, the pawl is adaptedto slide through the hole in the lock and in the knob-shank, but is thenmoved by gravity out of the slot to engage the shoulder in the knob; andwhere the knob-screw for the opposite knob is incloscd in the rose,neither knob can be removed without taking the door from its hinges andlaying it horizontally, so that the vertical position then assumed bythe spindle may permit the pawl to fall into line with the spindle,which enables the knob to be with d rawn.

The invention will be understood by reference to the ann cxed drawing,in which Figure 1 is an edge view of a door with the spindle and twoknobs, one of such knobs and rose being shown in section. Fig. 2 is aplan of a spindle with one end cxpansible and the opposite end providedwith a gravity pawl, and Fig. 3 is a cross section of the knob-shank andspindle at the expansible end of the spindle. Fig. l is a section of thedoorknob with the end of the spindle therein showing an alternativeconstruction.

a designates the door, b the face-plate of the doorlock, and c thespindle extending through the same.

(Z is a "rose upon one side of the door with the shank c of the knob Asecured upon the end of the spindlebya lillOlrSClQWf', and the socket inthe rose f of sufficient depth to cover such knob-screw, and thusprevent the releasing of the knob from the spindle.

The head of the screw f is represented by dotted lines in Fig. 1 toillustrate its concealment by the socket of the rose, and the screw maybe threaded into a hole in the spindle, as represented for the knobscrewis at the opposite end of the spindle. At the opposite end within theknob B the spindle is provided with a pawl g pivoted by a pin h in aslot 15 extended into the end of the spindle, in addition to aknob-screw It.

The end of the pawl is shown projected toward the opposite end ofthespindle, and is so Weighted or proportioned that when the spindle isplaced with the slot 1' in a vertical or approximately verticalposition, the weight of the pawl will carry its point downward and outof the slot.

The knobs are thus secured to the spindle by the concealed knobscrew fat one end and the exposed knob-screw 7: at the other end; while thepawl furnishes an additional means for positively preventing the removaloi the knob B from the spindle.

By suitably proportioning the length of the spindle to the thickness ofthe door and the length of the knobshank, such dropping of the pawl maybe adapted to engage its inner end with a shoulder j upon the inner endof the shank to permanently hold the knob from removal, as theknob-spindle does not in practice rotate far enough to turn the pawlup-side-down and thus release it from the shoulder j In practice, knobsdo not turn more than 90 degrees, and are commonly made to turn each wayfrom their normal position so as to retract the latch whether turned tothe right or left. The ordinary movement each side of the normalposition is commonly less than 45 degrees so that the pawl when appliedto ordinary knobs permanently locks the knob to the spindle so long asthe spindle remained in its operative position, which is horizontal.

The pawl is adapted to be used independently of the ordinary iasteningsfor the knobs, to merely prevent the removal of the knob from thespindle, as the ordinary knob-screws and other attachments maybe used tosecure the knobs upon a spindle in their operative relation to the door,and the pawl may be used ass. reserve or additional attachment toabsolutely prevent the re moval of the knob if such ordinary fasteningsare loosened.

The knob-screw It upon the shank of the knob B, is adapted to secure theknob in its working position, so that the pawl is not required to holdthe knob in its operative relation to the spindle or the door. It is,therefore, immaterial whether the end of the pawl is in contact with theshoulder during the normal operaother fastening is loosened to contactwith the shoulder and prevent the removal of the knob. This isillustrated in Fig. 4, where a pawl g is shown with arms arranged toproject at both sides of the spindle but weighted at one end so that itnormally-falls across the spindle when pushed into the recess of theknob. With such construction, the spindle must be forced into the knobabout oneeighth of an inch farther than is necessary to make the pawlcontact with the shoulder to enable the pawl to turn transversely to thespindle; but the knob-screw 7c serves to hold the knob in its workingposition, leaving the pawl at a distance from the shoulder as shown inFig. 4, to operate merely as a lock if the knob-screw be loosened and anattempt be made to remove the knob. The pawl does not, therefore, needto form any working part of the device when the knob is in operation, asthe ordinary iastenings for the knob serve such purpose, but comes intoplay when an attempt is made to remove the knob, when it contacts withthe shoulder and prevents such removal. This is further illustrated inFigs. 2 and 3, Where one end of the spindle is shown with a beveled slotZ in its end anda wedge m fitted therein to be pressed by the knob-screwn, for the purpose of expanding the spindle to clamp it at any pointwithin the shank e of the knob. This is the ordinary form of expansiblespindle for adjusting the knobs accurately into their working positionupon opposite sides of the door, and affords a means of adjusting theknob upon one end when the knob at the other end is provided with thepawl g, which is not constructed or intended in my invention to furnisha means oi securing the knob in different positions upon the spindle,but to positively prevent its abstraction. The screw n for operatingwith such a spindle can be concealed in a deep rose f and the knob thusbe protected from theit the same as the screw f shown in Fig. 1.

A hollow metallic knob is shown in the drawing; but it is obvious thatthe invention is applicable to any knob, as of wood or other material,if a recess of sutlicient depth be made within the same to receive theiiiner end of the spindle and the pawl.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what is claimed hereinis:

l. A knob spindle having a knob fitted reniovably thereon, means to holdthe knob in an adjusted position on the spindle, and a pawl upon thespindle constru cted and arranged to fit within the knob and permanentlylock the same to the spindle while in its operative horizontal position.

2. A knob spindle having a knob fitted removably thereon means to holdthe knob in an adjusted position on the spindle, and a pawl pivoted uponthe spindle and movable by gravity and constructed and arranged toengage and retain engagement with the knob to prevent the removal of theknob while the spindle is in its operative horizontal position, andarranged and operated to release the knob by the gravity movement of thepawl when the spindle is turned to a vertical position 3. Thecombination, with a knob spindle having upon one end a knob with a shankand a knob-screw adapted to secure the knob at any point upon thespindle to adjust it to the door, of a rose adapted to cover saidknob-screw to prevent the abstraction of the knob, the opposite end ofthe spindle having a knob with an internal shoulder, and such oppositeend of the spindle having a pawl constructed and arranged to fall bygravity into engagement with the shoulder in the knob to positivelyprevent the removal of such knob while the spindle is in its operativehorizontal position. 1 I

4 -l. A door provided with a lock having a knob-spindle, a recessed knobhaving a shank fitted upon the spindle and provided with a shoulder atthe inner end of the shank, said spindle having a pawl adapted to passthrough the hole in the knob-shank and movable by gravity into contactwith the shoulder upon the shank to prevent the removal of the knobwhile the door is in an operative position, the construction permittingthe pawl to fall into line with the spindle to withdraw the knob whenthe door is uuhinged and turned into a different position and means tohold the knob in an adjusted position on the spindle.

5. The combination, with a knobspindle having doorknobs upon oppositeends and means for separately securing them in their working relation tothe door. of an additional means applied to the spindle within at -leastone of the knobs for positively preventing its removal from the spindle.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

EDWARD A IIINE,

Witnesses L. LEE, 'lnonas S. CRANE.

